WASHINGTON (CNN) — National Review founder and conservative commentator William F. Buckley Jr. was found dead Wednesday in the study of his Stamford, Connecticut, home, officials at the magazine said. He was 82.

“Buckley died while at work,” said Kathryn Jean Lopez, editor of the National Review Online, in a written statement. “If he had been given a choice on how to depart this world, I suspect that would have been exactly it. At home, still devoted to the war of ideas.”

Buckley’s assistant, Linda Bridges, said he had suffered from emphysema for a few years, but the exact cause of death is unknown. She said Buckley was found dead by his cook at 10 a.m. Wednesday.

“Even though he had been ailing, this took us completely by surprise,” said Bridges, who worked with Buckley for nearly 40 years.

“He was a great hero of American conservatism — a brilliant and exciting writer and public performer,” she added. “And he was somebody I was very proud and glad to call a friend.”

Buckley’s writings are widely credited for supporting the growth of the U.S. conservative movement in the latter half of the 20th century.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — National Review founder and conservative commentator William F. Buckley Jr. was found dead Wednesday in the study of his Stamford, Connecticut, home, officials at the magazine said. He was 82.

“Buckley died while at work,” said Kathryn Jean Lopez, editor of the National Review Online, in a written statement. “If he had been given a choice on how to depart this world, I suspect that would have been exactly it. At home, still devoted to the war of ideas.”

Buckley’s assistant, Linda Bridges, said he had suffered from emphysema for a few years, but the exact cause of death is unknown. She said Buckley was found dead by his cook at 10 a.m. Wednesday.

“Even though he had been ailing, this took us completely by surprise,” said Bridges, who worked with Buckley for nearly 40 years.

“He was a great hero of American conservatism — a brilliant and exciting writer and public performer,” she added. “And he was somebody I was very proud and glad to call a friend.”

Buckley’s writings are widely credited for supporting the growth of the U.S. conservative movement in the latter half of the 20th century.